In this episode of Having Fun with Death & Taxes, estate planning attorney Leslie Marenco and family law attorney Veronica Lopez-Calleja break down one of the most complex and prolonged celebrity estate disputes in history: the estate of the “Godfather of Soul,” James Brown.

After Brown’s death in 2006, an estate valued at approximately $100 million became entangled in 16 years of litigation involving an invalid marriage, disputed paternity, outdated estate planning documents, and repeated trustee battles.

This episode explores a rare trifecta of legal chaos—pretermitted heirs, unresolved marital status, and fiduciary failures—and reveals how relying on basic or outdated documents can trigger years of lawsuits, family conflict, and delayed legacies.